ORANGEFIELD, TEXAS. Orangefield is at the junction of Farm roads 105 and 408, twenty miles east of Beaumont in south central Orange County. It developed around the Orange oilfield, discovered in 1913. A major producing well, which was brought in eight years later, led to the opening of the Orangefield post office in 1922. The population level, reflecting the fluctuations common to oil boomtowns, was estimated at 1,000 during the mid-1930s, fell to 500 by the early 1950s, but recovered to 681 by the early 1970s. Orangefield and the nearby oilfields were for a time plagued by flooding from Cow Bayou, which runs through the community. In 1963 Congress agreed to channel the first 7.7 miles of the watercourse. Included in the package was a provision for a turning basin at Orangefield. However, only the first seven miles had been completed by 1967, and the existing work was deemed able to handle the foreseeable needs for navigation and flood control. During the mid-1980s the number of residents at Orangefield was estimated at 725, and the town reported eleven rated businesses. Through 2000 the population was still estimated as 725.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: James E. Johnson, An Economic History of Orange County, Texas, Prior to 1940 (M.A. thesis, Lamar State College of Technology, 1966).
